There have been numerous procedures and devices for helping golfers improve their swings. Some are illustrated in Austad's Golf Catalogue for "Summer 1994", 4500 East 10th Street, Sioux Falls, S.D. 57196, including a Power Swing Fan which is attached to the shank of the club and uses wind resistance, instead of a heavy weight, to improve swing path technique and strengthen the muscles using in the swing. Another training aid is a golf club with an adjustable hinge which breaks down if the club is swung incorrectly.
Another golf swing aid is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,330,189 issued Jul. 19, 1994 to James Reichow of Brooklyn Park, Minn. The Reichow golf swing aid is attachable to the shaft of a golf club and includes electrical circuitry with a source of power, a mercury switch and a sound emitting element. This golf swing aid allows a golfer to preset the circuitry, so that upon the backswing of a club, sound will be emitted when the mercury switch is tripped at a prescribed backswing elevation of the club.
The golf swing aid of the Reichow patent has the disadvantage of interfering with the weighting of the club because of its required attachment to the shaft of the club. Moreover, when the device is removed from the club, there is a disturbance in the swing of the player who has come to rely on the presence of the device.
It is generally well known to golfers that one of the most difficult determinations in golf is that of controlling the backswing. In many cases the backswing is either excessive or inadequate with consequent effect upon the shot. Moreover, if the backswing is not correctly oriented, the result can be an undesirable "slice" in which the club head swings across the ball and causes a right-had departure from desired linearity or a "hook" in which the club head strikes the ball in the opposite fashion of the slice and causes a left-hand departure from linearity. In general, judging how much of a backswing to take is one of the most difficult determinations that is to be made in the game of golf.
While there are various golf aid and golf swing aid devices available, they function primarily on a mechanical, centrifugal force basis.
Accordingly, it is an object of the invention to provide a golf swing aid and method that will allow the golfer to improve his swing. A related object is to achieve an improved swing without the need for mechanical devices that requires attachment to the shaft or other portion of the golf club.
A further object of the invention is to provide facility in the use of a golf swing aid that is compact, of light weight and easily used and transported on the golf course.
It is still a further object of the invention to provide a golf swing aid which does not require a mercury-switch controlled electrical circuit.